MSL Problems Revisited

""Alan Stern, a planetary scientist and former NASA associate administrator for science missions, charged in a New York Times op-ed column last year that the cost overruns of the Mars Science Laboratory are a sign of a "cancer" of spending profligacy that is overtaking the space agency. Stern, now a private consultant, argues that the new rover is too ambitious, with too many new technologies in play, making a cost overrun all but inevitable. "It's not just that it's a bigger rover. It's also an entirely new kind of landing system. It's also that it's nuclear-powered. It's also that it's carrying multiple instruments far beyond what's ever been done," Stern said in an interview. "We need to go to a strategy where we can access Mars frequently and take advantage of what we've already invented."

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Mars Mission Has Some Seeing Red, Washington Post\n\n\"\"Alan Stern, a planetary scientist and former NASA associate administrator for science missions, charged in a New York Times op-ed column last year that the cost overruns of the Mars Science Laboratory are a sign of a \"cancer\" of spending profligacy that is overtaking the space agency. Stern, now a private consultant, argues that the new rover is too ambitious, with too many new technologies in play, making a cost overrun all but inevitable. \"It's not just that it's a bigger rover. It's also an entirely new kind of landing system. It's also that it's nuclear-powered. It's also that it's carrying multiple instruments far beyond what's ever been done,\" Stern said in an interview. \"We need to go to a strategy where we can access Mars frequently and take advantage of what we've already invented.\"

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